Artist and Artiste

Artist, pronounced in the same way, can mean "creator or performer of any kind of art form". Another meaning the word is applied to is "a deceitful person".

There is a separate word, 'artiste', in existence, which in popular belief is the feminine form of 'artist'. But it is not true. An artiste is either a professional performer or someone wanting to be recognized as having artistic talents. This word is pronounced, 'arteest'.

According to Oxford, previously artist was not used for the meaning of 'performer of art'. But now that the word covers both meanings, artiste has almost gone out of use or finds use only in the most formal of occasions.